A passive optical network (PON) is one system for providing network access over “the last mile.” The PON is a point to multi-point network comprised of an optical line terminal (OLT) at the central office, an optical distribution network (ODN), and a plurality of optical network units (ONUs) at the customer premises. In some PON systems, such as Ethernet PON (EPON) systems, downstream data is broadcasted at about 1.25 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and similarly upstream data is transmitted at about 1.25 Gbps. Other PON systems include Gigabit PON (GPON) systems, where downstream data is broadcasted at about 2.5 Gbps but upstream data is transmitted at about 1.25 Gbps. The bandwidth capability of the PON systems is expected to increase as the demands for services increase. To meet the increased demand in services, some emerging PON systems, such as Next Generation Access (NGA) systems, are being reconfigured to transport the data frames with improved reliability and efficiency and at higher bandwidths, for example at about ten Gbps, or with improved wavelength resource efficiency, for example the data frames are carried in different wavelengths by wavelength division multiplexing technologies.